By Stuart McBride, Head of Threat Intelligence, AdaptiveMobile Security

Cybercriminals frequently use major world events, including natural disasters, international conflicts, and political elections, to manipulate vulnerable targets. The latest scheme is focused on exploiting the public’s fear around COVID-19 and the coinciding economic shutdown through SMS spam attacks. Attackers are primarily using messages that appear like legitimate updates to stimulus and relief payments to entice unsuspecting victims into clicking links or providing information.